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Ballots, minority issues delay the California race

The Justice Department signed off on the Oct. 7 election to recall California Governor Gray Davis in response to warnings from a federal judge in San Jose, who questioned whether the voting rights of minorities would be upheld.

In a separate challenge to the recall date, a federal judge in Los Angeles said Monday he would rule by midweek on an effort to postpone the election because some counties will use old punch-card voting machines.

Also Monday, Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign said the actor would discuss his economic policies today. Schwarzenegger also spoke by telephone with a panel of board members of the California Teachers Association, which invited six major candidates for interviews in Sacramento. The teachers union opposes the recall but has not decided whether to endorse a replacement candidate.

California voters are to decide Oct. 7 whether to recall Davis, whom some blame for the state's 2000-2001 energy crisis, a record US$38 billion budget deficit, and hikes in taxes and college fees. Voters will also choose a replacement from 135 candidates.

The election, just 50 days away, is forcing some counties to make a number of moneysaving changes that until Monday lacked approval from the Justice Department. The legal dispute focused on Monterey County, which plans to cut costs by reducing its usual 190 polling places to 86 and hiring fewer Spanish-speaking poll workers.

Such changes must be cleared by the Justice Department in places like Monterey and three other California counties, which have a history of low voter participation, particularly among minorities. The other California counties subject to the requirement are Merced, Kings and Yuba.

"This is not a problem," Jorge Martinez, a Justice Department spokesman, said late Monday.

Last week, US District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose ordered Monterey County not to send absentee ballots overseas as he considers postponing the election.

He gave the state two weeks to get the necessary approval from the Justice Department. Depending on further legal challenges, the election was expected to go forward with Monday's clearance.

In the Los Angeles case, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California says voters in six counties would still be using the error-prone ballots if the recall were staged Oct. 7.

The suit seeks a delay until the next regular election in March, when touch-screen or written ballots will be in place as part of separate litigation arising from the Bush-Gore voting debacle in Florida in 2000.

Doug Woods of the state attorney general's office, representing the secretary of state, argued that the ACLU was merely speculating about what might happen Oct. 7 in terms of error rates or other problems with the punch-card machines.

Woods said the speculation does not outweigh the public interest in having the election go forward.

The election date has been challenged repeatedly in court with little success. Candidates have continued to campaign, although Schwarzenegger has largely kept out of public view since announcing his candidacy almost two weeks ago. He has been criticized for not offering specific policy positions.
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